Few details released on deaths of man, toddler

Days after Camden County deputies found a 40-year-old male and his 2-year-old daughter dead in their home on Route D, the medical examiner on the case is releasing what little information is available.

Days after Camden County deputies found a 40-year-old male and his 2-year-old daughter dead in their home on Route D, the medical examiner on the case is releasing what little information is available.

Deputies responded to a call regarding a possible death and found Robert and Sadie Burns deceased around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 7.

"It appears the little girl drowned in the bath tub, but the specific cause of death for her father has not been determined," Deputy Medical Examiner for Southwest Missouri Forensics in Springfield Missouri, Ron Yoder, said.

Yoder added that there were no physical signs on either body indicating foul play.

The official cause of death for the pair will not be available until test results are complete which could take four weeks or longer.

"This is still under full investigation," Yoder said. "No ruling will be made until we have the final results."

Rumors have gone rampant since initial reports were released on Friday. Family members are mourning after the sudden deaths of their loved ones and would like for the rumors to simply go away.

"We would be better if we didn't have all the rumors going around," Robert Burns' older sister, Sandra Frazee, told the Lake Sun. "There was no foul play and please let our family grieve in peace because they were both beautiful people."

Robert and Sadie are survived by Robert's oldest daughter, 20-year-old Chelsea.

"His two girls were the joy of his life," Frazee recalled. "He loved both of his daughters very much."

Frazee fondly remembers her young niece as a sweet toddler who enjoyed being in the outdoors with her father.

"She was wonderful," she said of Sadie. "She was a beautiful little girl, always smiling and very loving."

Frazee says her brother was very close to both of his daughters and would spend a lot of his time with his youngest.

"He would take her to the park and the river," she recalled. "He spent a lot of time her."

Robert was also very close to his own mother, who found the two in their home on Friday. Since the mother and son usually communicated often and she had not heard from her son that day, Robert's mother went to his home to check on him.

Robert lived in the lake area most of his life and worked in construction.

The family has already has seen their fair share of tragedy within the past year when the toddler's mother, Ashley Burns, was killed in a triple fatal car collision in Miller County on Nov. 30.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 12, at the Kidwell-Garber Laurie/Sunrise Beach Chapel. The family will receive friends from noon to 2 p.m., Wednesday, at the funeral home. Expressions of sympathy may be left online at www.kidwellgarber.com.